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The pitch at Westpac Park in Hamilton has come under a cloud and there are doubts over whether it will be ready for the Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The first Test is less than a month away and the weather conditions have made it extremely tough for the pitch to be prepared.Heath Mills, the Players’ Association executive manager, told the that there were several concerns with regard to the pitch. “The feedback I’ve had from players is that they would be very surprised if Westpac Park was ready to host a Test in four weeks time.”However, John Reid, the New Zealand Cricket operations manager, told a spokesman of the board: “The pitch has been checked and cleared in Hamilton and no replacement will be needed.”The man in charge of the surface – Karl Johnson, the groundsman – wasn’t too optimistic about getting the pitch in top shape before the game. He said that the weather in Hamilton this summer has made preparation “extremely difficult”. Johnson had shipped up Waikari clay from Canterbury at the end of last season to replace the inconsistent Naike soil. He said that he had selected a strip for the Test and would begin rolling it once the warm-up game between Northern Districts and Sri Lanka was over.”But it has been bloody difficult,” Johnson said. “We’ve had to prove that the block has come through the winter and have had a warrant of fitness passed on it. Waikari always takes a couple of years to settle. It will get better with age and for this Test match we’re just looking to get a consistent quality to it. It’s not going to be startling and up around the nostrils, but it should be consistent.”The condition of the pitch was a talking point in the recent State Championship match between Northern Districts and Auckland. Mark O’Donnell, the Auckland coach, said, “By day three, there was enough variable bounce to cause problems. Those problems will be magnified in international cricket. Day three is too early for the sort of stuff we saw.”The pitch had also come under scrutiny during last season’s Test match between New Zealand and South Africa when a “crater” appeared on the wicket, and nearly forced Clive Lloyd, the match referee, to call off the match.

Australia 126 for 7 v England
Scorecard

England ripped through Australia after a delayed start to the second Test at Worcester, reducing the visitors to 126 for 7 by the close.Heavy rain prevented any play until 3pm, and with moisture in the pitch and low clouds, England gambled by putting Australia in. The decision soon paid dividends. Belinda Clark looked fairly comfortable, but Lisa Keightley’s run out triggered a collapse which saw them slip from 27 for 0 to 49 for 4.Lisa Sthalekar led a mini recovery with a spirited 34, but her dismissal brought more wickets and England ended in a good position – although they will not be too complacent. In the first Test at Hove, they had Australia 115 for 7 only for the last three wickets to add 230 runs. Julie Hayes and Shelley Nitschke, who did much of the damage them, are still at the crease .

The annual general meeting of the Canadian Cricket Association (CCA) has re-elected Ramesh Jagoo as a vice-president, a little over a year after he was booted off the executive committee.Jagoo was one of three VPs elected – Howard Petrook and Cliff Cox were the others – at the CCA’s annual general meeting in Mississauga. “It’s certainly good to be back and be able to serve Canadian cricket,” Jagoo told share.com. “I like the direction in which this board is heading and I believe I could use my knowledge and experience to assist them in moving forward with their vision.”Traddie Simpson was officially appointed as the new treasurer, a role he has been filling informally since Charles Pais’s departure in January. "Nobody wanted the treasurer position, so I chose to accept it because I felt I could make a contribution there,” Simpson told share.com. “It was a lot easier to get a VP than a treasurer.””When we assessed our financial state earlier this year, we realized that we were in dire financial straits,” explained Ben Sennik, the CCA’s president. “Within a matter of days in the position, Traddie was able to incorporate excellent accounting systems, thus providing the basis for the board to receive monthly financial statements and virtually day to day monitoring of the finances.”

England’s preparations for the series against West Indies will include a masseuse for the first time – but the players have had to pay a third of the cost of having Vickki Byrne accompany them after what one newspaper described as "a tense stand off with Lord’s".Michael Vaughan asked the England & Wales Cricket Board to pay Byrne’s £15,000 bill, but the board would only stump up a third, with a sponsor picking up another third. That left the players to make up the difference."At the start of every tour the ECB provide a sum that can go towards the cost of providing a local masseur, to be sourced locally," explained an ECB spokesman. "Vickki worked for the team throughout last summer, however, and the players wanted her on board for this tour as part of the management team. While we want to give the England players the best possible support, we have had to operate within certain financial constraints during the last year and we can’t throw money at the team.”Byrne, who owns the Reading-based Body Works International, has worked with the England team for the past two years. She travelled with the side to Jamaica last week – but while the players were in business class, she was stuck back in economy.

Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, believes the team are stronger in the wake of the fourth Test forfeiture which rocked international cricket.Pakistan have bounced back from the Oval controversy, where they were embroiled in a ball-tampering row, to win the Twenty20 international against England and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match one-day series.”After losing the Test series 3-0 we were very down and we saw the one-day series as a good chance for us to return to Pakistan with a victory,” Younis told bigstarcricket.com. “It’s never much fun going back to Pakistan having lost a Test series and a one-day series – so we are definitely not relaxing at the moment.”There is no shortage of motivation anyway for a team generally thought to be among the leading contenders to win the World Cup in the Caribbean next spring. But the ball-tampering furore – board chairman Shaharyar Khan described the ruling as a “slur” on team and country – has brought even more focus. “One thing that helped bring us even closer together was the controversy at The Oval,” said Younis.The Oval drama led to umpire Darrell Hair, who penalised Pakistan five runs in that ill-fated Test, offering to resign in exchange for 500,000 dollars. The whole thing got revealed after a bizarre exchange of e-mails between the Australian official and the ICC was made public by the latter.”Ultimately that kind of thing is not good for cricket, and we regret the fact the match was unable to be finished,” said Younis. “We were in a good position, and also the crowd wanted to see two good teams complete the match. The whole thing is no good for cricket, no good for Darrell Hair, no good for the Pakistan team, no good for Inzy (skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq) and no good to the England team. But it’s happened now – and nobody knows what will come next.”Younis has been struck, however, by the positive effect on Pakistan’s morale. “Inside the team, we became even closer after that incident,” he said. “Team spirit was good anyway, but the unity was there even more after that match. We are very united. After that we really backed our captain.”Younis now wants Pakistan to demonstrate their ability by sweeping the remainder of the three day one-dayers starting at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday. “We are keen to give our passionate fans something to cheer about,” he said.”That is our main goal – we must win it. We are in the world’s top three in both Test and one-day cricket, so we are in good shape. Another win in this series would see us getting closer to Australia.”

Close Australia 317 for 3 (Hayden 136, Ponting 120*) trail India 366 (Sehwag 195) by 49 runs
Scorecard

A resurgent Australia called all the shots on the second day of the third Test,first taking six wickets for 37 to bowl India out for 366, and then racking up 317 for 3 by the close. Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting both made hundreds in apartnership of 234 for the second wicket, and for a large part of the second andthird sessions India were under siege. Only two wickets late in the day from Anil Kumble, including that of the promoted Adam Gilchrist, kept India in with asemblance of a chance. It was quite clear that the balance of power had turnedquite dramatically in this Test match.Australia had struggled previously in the series to run quickly through the Indian lower order and tail, but their effort with the ball this morning was exactly what they would have envisaged last night when they considered how to get back into this Test match. India, resuming on 329 for 4, started brightly, with Sourav Ganguly unfurling some gorgeous drives against Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken, but they began to lose their way immediately after reaching 350.Lee, who had come around the wicket to Ganguly, was hit for two boundaries in three balls, but broke through with a short-of-length ball that Ganguly popped to gully (350 for 5). It is a batting tic against the fast bowlers that Ganguly has struggled to eradicate completely, and it cost India dearly here.Wickets fell in a procession thereafter, mostly to poor judgement on the part ofthe batsmen. Ajit Agarkar was the most culpable, hitting his first ball straight to mid-off and attempting a suicidal single only to be run-out. Kumble played another ill-judged stroke, driving at a wide ball from Williams and edging to third slip (366 for 8), and VVS Laxman fell before he could scrape together a few runs with the tail, reaching for a legbreak and was caught by Hayden at slip for 19. India had collapsed spectacularly, much like Australia on the second day of the Brisbane Test.

The door was now open for Australia to get quickly to the Indian score – no morethan a moderate one given the excellent batting conditions – and then run the game from there. India had the consolation of a wicket before lunch, when Agarkar dismissed Justin Langer for the fourth time in the series (30 for 1), but there was to be little respite for the Indian bowling thereafter as Hayden and Ponting piled on the runs. The batting collapse in the morning and the run-scoring of two of the most prolific batsmen in the modern game were not the only reasons for Ganguly’s distracted air. Zaheer Khan seemed to feel the effects of the injury that kept him out of the second Test, and was unable to give it all, though it was a relief to the Indians that they did not lose him altogether.Hayden brought up his hundred off only 137 balls, but his innings was not as evenly paced as that statistic suggests. His dismissals at Adelaide, driving loosely at the seamers on both occasions, would have impressed upon him the need to be more selective about his strokeplay instead of trying to dominate all the bowlers. He batted circumspectly against Ashish Nehra, who bowled two probing and accurate spells at him, and most of his runs came against the bowling of Agarkar, whom he drove down the ground repeatedly, and Kumble, who was slog-swept with impunity and never allowed to settle. Akash Chopra, fielding at short leg to the bowling of Kumble, must have on more than one occasion felt that facing Lee’s bumpers with a bat for protection was infinitely more preferable to having to dodge Hayden’s swipes from five yards away.A feature of Hayden’s innings was his superb running between the wickets. Herepeatedly hit the ball straight to mid-off or mid-on and made it to the nonstriker’s end by the time the throw was fired in. Hayden made merry after hereached his hundred, taking guard well outside his crease and savaging even goodballs with powerful strokes off the front foot.Ponting, whose attacking instincts rival those of any other batsman in contemporary cricket, was content to play second foil for once, ensuring nevertheless that he scored at a healthy rate. He took heavy toll of Agarkar when he dropped short and Zaheer when he overpitched, but his batting against Kumble was less than assured, and he was lucky to survive on a number of occasions. It was not among his best hundreds, but it was vital nonetheless, and he remained undefeated at stumps.When Hayden was finally out for 133, lbw to Kumble swinging across the line oncetoo often (264 for 2), Australia made a strong statement of intent. Though still102 behind the Indian total, they showed that they were confident they would notfall short of it by sending in Adam Gilchrist at No.4 to have a go at the bowling. Gilchrist swung at quite a few without looking very convincing, but he is easily among he most dangerous batsmen in international cricket, and India would have been relieved to see the back of him when he skied Kumble high in the air and was caught at mid-off (295 for 3).Ponting and Damien Martyn then saw Australia through till stumps, at which pointthey were only 49 shy of the Indian score. It was the first time in the series that Australia had dominated the day with both bat and ball.

Robin Smith will miss this Sunday’s National League match against Nottinghamshire Outlaws after pulling a hamstring in last weeks victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks.”It is hoped that Robin will be fit for the Frizzell Championship match against Glamorgan at The Rose Bowl next week”, said a club spokesman, “if not he should be ready for the floodlit match at Trent bridge on 21st July”.Smith pulled his joint attempting a quick single, and continued batting with the help of a runner (Derek Kenway) until he was run out. Enjoying some of his finest form, Robin is also in the middle of a successful Testimonial campaign.

A disciplined batting and bowling performance saw Glamorgan return to winning ways at Cardiff with a7 wicket victory over a lacklustreWarwickshire side who were without both of their overseas players. Glamorgan`s victory wastheir first since July 13th and their first over Warwickshire in a League match inWales since 1997.The Glamorgan bowlers dismissed the visitors for 196 in 43.5 overs after the Warwickshire captain,Micahel Powell had won the toss and elected to bat first. Apart from Trevor Penney who made anunbeaten 64, none of his batsmencould master an accurate Glamorgan attack who included Andrew Davies for the first time for 8 weeksfollowing a hand injury.It was Davies who made the early breakthorugh, dismissing Neil Carter in his second over, whilstMichael Kasprowicz bowled Ian Bell for just 5. Alex Wharf,who had received a mauling from the Essex batsmen in midweek, came on as first change and delivereda controlled five over spell, conceeding just 14 runs and picking up the valuable wicket of the prolific Nick Knightthanks to a fine diving catch by Mark Wallace.The wicket-keeper also took another good catch later in the innings as the Glamorgan spinners – RobertCroft and Dean Cosker contained the visiting batsmen, with Cosker taking 2-3 in 10 balls, beforeAdrian Dale returned to finish off the innings, taking two wickets in his fourth over. Dale finished with figuresof 3/16, whilst Cosker had the fine figures of 3/44, and Croft only conceeded 38 runs in his accurate9 over spell.Needing to score at 4.3 an over, Glamorgan made a poor start, losing Jimmy Maher in the opening over,but Robert Croft and Michael Powell then shared a stand of 76 in 14 overs, before Powell chipped a ballto mid-wicket. But Croft was in a determined mood, and he duly went on to score 70 from as many balls, hitting11 boundaries and recorded his fourth half-century of the season, all of which have been at Cardiff.Croft was eventually bowled by Bell, but a watchful 47 from Matthew Maynard and a sublime 41 from David Hemp sawGlamorgan to their victory target without any further alarms and maintain Glamorgan`s quest of retaining theirDivision One title. The victory, achieved with 4.1 overs to spare puts them just two points behind leaders Gloucestershire and Surrey.

Melvyn Betts has joined Middlesex from Warwickshire, where he spent three seasons and took 83 first-class wickets.Betts, 28, started his career at Durham in 1993 and toured Zimbabwe and South Africa with England A in 1998-99.”I am looking forward to performing well for Middlesex and I am very excited by the prospect of playing at Lord’s," he said. “I feel I have a lot to offer and am just about reaching the peak of my career. Middlesex are a good, young side and I can’t wait for next season to start.”

Somerset’s newest batting recruit James Bryant has arrived at the County Ground from South Africa to start his new career in English first class cricket, a career that he hopes will eventually lead to him playing international cricket.As he sat looking out across the ground the twenty seven year old who has made his name playing for Eastern Province said: "It’s good to have arrived at last and everybody has made me feel very welcome. The weather is really great and it’s warmer here than I thought that it would be."The South African born player, who is qualified to play county cricket as a non overseas player because of his English parents has been signed by the Cidermen to bolster the top order batting and is expected to bat at number three or four.He told me: "I have come to Somerset to help the club to win promotion, which I think is an achievable goal given the quality of the players that we have. In fact I will need to get some runs early on in the season to be sure of getting my place in the team!"Bryant has an impressive track record in both four day and one-day cricket. He went to university in Port Elizabeth and started playing for the Eastern Province `B’ side before progressing to the first team. As a result of being the leading run scorer for the province in 1999-2000, he was selected to go to the West Indies with the South African A side, an experience that he thoroughly enjoyed.However the tour did not lead to him being called up for the senior side, and despite being the leading run scorer in South African one day cricket the following season he has remained on the side lines, as a result of which he has come to England to try to realise a burning ambition.He told me: "In 2002 -3 I played for Eastern Province as their overseas player and coming over here to play first class cricket is the biggest decision in my cricketing career so far, but if I do well for Somerset then who knows it may lead to me playing for England because my biggest goal is to play international cricket. At present I have a two year contract, but if things go well this might be extended."How would he describe himself as a player I asked. "I’m an attacking batsman and enjoy playing both the four and one day game. I enjoy the quickness and the aggression of the one day game but I also enjoy building an innings in four day cricket. In both forms I play very positive cricket and like to keep the score moving along."In the short time that he had been at Taunton what did he think of what he had seen. "The ground looks lovely and there are lots of short straight boundaries and when the crowds get in there must be a great atmosphere. I knew more or less what to expect because I had a long chat with Jimmy Cook before I left and he gave me the run down. He loved his time over here and told me that it is a good batting strip at Taunton," he told me.Finally I asked if he had a message for the Somerset fans. He told me: "I’ll appreciate any support that the crowds give me and I can promise them that I’m going to go out there and give it my best for the club and hopefully help them to win promotion."